Brad, you make a number of important points in this letter. I would like to consider your letter in light of the following concerns.

Can Rep. Walberg and other Republicans make the argument that since they only control the house in opposition to the Senate and the White House that they are at best performing a holding action until after the next elections? Realistically with divided government, something the Founders I believe expected, any reform (good or bad) is most likely to take more than one election cycle. Should the debt ceiling have been raised? Would there have been substantial damage to an already wounded economy if it hadn’t? The psychology of the financial markets is a dangerous thing to play with. Slow steady reform is better when trying to achieve significant change in the direction of a very big ship of state. Or is it?

It would seem that Republicans who say Obama is the root of the problem reveal the depth of their partisan and self serving cowardice. We had a surplus when George W. Bush came into office. Large increases in spending (foreign & domestic) are the root of the problem and both Republicans and Democrats bear responsibility as they strive to lavish borrowed money on their favorite programs. Defense for Republicans, social spending for Democrats, and goodies for corporations from both. Both parties have ill-served the American Republic for decades and only a broken economy may slow down their irresponsibility. If Americans truly want high spending then the only responsible thing to do is to raise the taxes to pay for them. Now, not postpone the burden so as to pass it on to our children and grandchildren. It is immoral to have a low tax, high spend, borrow from foreigners fiscal policy. It lacks any virtue. Both parties are to be blamed for our current state and the sooner conservative Republicans admit it the better. It is not leadership to blame the other party when both parties have committed fiscal treason. Tell the truth and lead. This is what conservatives must demand. Or the Republic is doomed.

But, in the end, it is the duty of citizens of the American Republic to hold their elected leaders accountable. Until we elect leaders who are committed to drastically shrinking the scale and scope of the national government (both in domestic & foreign affairs) we are stuck with a government of cowards elected by irresponsible debtors. Are we getting what we deserve? Have we reached a state where so little character remains in our citizens that only collapse will bring us to do our duty? Perhaps it is too late. But, maybe the 2010 elections showed that true patriots remain. We should pray for God’s mercy on our Republic. I don’t think we could bear the heat of his justice. The Republic is stained with too much sin. We must repent and reform our ways. Or we shall be an example for future generations of how to lose liberty and virtue and destroy a Republic.

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Author

W. Winston Elliott III is President of The Free Enterprise Institute, Editor of Imaginative Conservative Books and Editor-in-Chief of The Imaginative Conservative. Mr. Elliott is Visiting Professor of Liberal Arts and Conservative Thought at Houston Baptist University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Washington College and a Masters of Business Administration, with Honors, from the University of Houston.

Oh, dare I say it? Winston has given us another uplifting hopeful comment. LOL. I do agree, though. I am taking Introduction to the Constitution from Yorktown right now and am realizing the extent of the precarious situation our country finds itself in at this time. Would I be wrong to think that virtue is the key here? Or that the idea of seeking truth would help curtail some of the run away trains sponsored by modern malcontents in Congress.But Winston reminds us, that it is the citizen, who elects these selfish brats to the legislation branch.

Good post, though I'd also like to suggest our insane foreign policy as a root problem. If you ask me, our economic self-destruction is punishment for the greater sin of unjust wars. Economic mismanagement hurts only us; wars hurt other people and are therefore a worse moral evil.

The Imaginative Conservative offers to our families, our communities, and the Republic, a conservatism of hope, grace, charity, gratitude and prayer. We do this in accord with Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” - W. Winston Elliott III

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The conservative is concerned, first of all, with the regeneration of the spirit and character—with the perennial problem of the inner order of the soul, the restoration of the ethical understanding, and the religious sanction upon which any life worth living is founded. This is conservatism at its highest. - Russell Kirk